Dear Colleagues:

The following three FAQs address issues of space for staff in the Division of Extramural Activities Support (DEAS), assignment of DEAS staff to institutes and centers (ICs), and training for DEAS staff. The FAQs are also posted on the MEO web site (http://extramuralmeo.nih.gov).

WHERE WILL DEAS STAFF BE LOCATED PHYSICALLY?

Almost all DEAS staff members will be located in office space within the ICs, just as extramural support staff is now. A relatively small headquarters staff will be located centrally; NIH is in the process of identifying space for the headquarters.

Decisions on where to locate individual DEAS employees will be finalized when the organization is staffed. Applicants for DEAS positions are asked to indicate their preferences for location and hub assignment. To the extent possible, DEAS managers will accommodate those preferences. At the same time, they also must balance employees' preferences with the needs of the organization and its customers. So while it is likely that many DEAS employees will be located in space provided by their IC and provide services for their current IC (as well as other ICs served by their hub), it is not possible at this point to guarantee individuals a specific location.

HOW WILL DEAS MANAGERS DETERMINE WHICH STAFF AND ACTIVITIES WILL BE LOCATED IN EACH IC?

DEAS managers will consider a number of factors, including IC workload, space and equipment available in the IC, and DEAS operating procedures (e.g., not every activity currently performed on-site in an IC would necessarily be performed by on-site staff under the new business model). To inform their decisions, the DEAS leadership has gathered information from the ICs about what space and equipment extramural support staff is currently using and to which individuals the support staff is providing services. As much as possible, DEAS managers will accommodate employee preferences for hub and location, thus providing continuity in the partnerships between DEAS employees and the program directors, scientific review administrators and grants management specialists in the ICs.

WILL DEAS STAFF BE TRAINED FOR THEIR NEW JOBS?

Yes, employees will be trained to perform successfully in their new positions. While some operating procedures in DEAS will remain essentially the same as current procedures, others will be new to some or all DEAS employees. Similarly, there will be new information technology systems to learn. DEAS employees will receive a combination of formal training and on-the-job training. A timeline for training will be developed after the standard operating procedures are finalized.